Before the rain arrived, I spent some time walking the field, broadcasting clover seed.
Slowly, through consistent mowing, grasses begin to emerge from the briers. The clover will improve the soil, further overshadow the weeds, and create a beneficial cover crop for wildlife. We intend to be no till, but at some point in the next few years we *will* need to disc - honeychile the previous farmers left the field riddled in furrows, which means traversing the road makes for a bucking-bronco experience. (Which the children love, but the dogs definitely do not- you should see them all seasick by the time we throw open the car and they tumble out!)

Last night, we had...gosh... twenty-ish people here for dinner!
The net zero energy prefab house is still with no systems installed, but that didn't stop us.
It was the last weekend before the farmers markets open for the season, so we used that as an excuse to see our farming friends before they disappear on Saturdays for market. It was a *lovely* evening with old friends bringing new, gathering together to do my favorite activity: Makin' Something Outta Nuthin'!
Everyone brought a treat.

So a lone dish of pasta suddenly was surrounded with delicious homemade, homegrown food: freshly picked asparagus with homemade cheese, potato salad, dark bread with dill sauce as an appetizer, lemon squares, a gorgeous baked apple cake was topped with Lisa's ice cream... and on, and on... A FEAST!
I assure you that although this prefab is a small footprint home... a big crowd can be crammed in on a rainy evening HAPPILY, and comfortably!

I moved over the card table I have been using as my "pretend kitchen island" to the end of the dining table... it fit perfectly, and voila, the table sat ten spaciously! I then placed chairs (remember those stackable Piretti Xylon chairs people thought I was crazy for snapping up thirty of them? Honeychile that's because I always envision a party!) around the coffee table, and suddenly there was a new area to eat and lounge. The pipsqueaks tended to dash about, snatching bits of bread and cake off the tables and their parent's plates...

At the end of a raucous, fantastic evening, with good wine, great food, and lots of laughter, I climbed atop the gravel pile and held the lantern high as our guests carried sleepy children through the dark to their cars and trundled down the drive to home.

As the last car turned, disappearing from the field, I looked back at our prefab modern home.
Inside, the light glowed softly... it just looked so happy, secure, safe, friendly...

Afterwards, I washed dishes on a picnic table dragged underneath the prefab's overhang, halfway in the gentle rain, not minding it a bit. It was relaxing to busy myself, getting things done, while recalling every nice moment of the evening.

The rain picked up, everyone went to bed, but I sat up awhile, in the far corner chair, using that area as I always intended - a great reading spot, cozy, listening to the rain... it was wonderful.

I thought back to the years when we camped in the teardrop camper with children in diapers - a wet weekend like this we would avoid, not run to. The driving rain would have us packing up the children in the middle of the night, sloshing mud and misery to drive a long dark drive to safety.

Instead, here I was warm, happy, enjoying an architecture magazine while listening to the tap tap tap of lovely, soothing rain.

Sounds like such a lovely day! We are in much the same place as you with our cabin in Maine, and two weeks ago were invited to a neighborhood potluck--superb! We are planting apple trees this weekend. Cheers to spring!Best,Margaret

Margaret, Thank you so much! Love that you're planting apples, when you do so you're kind of not planting them for yourself but for others... : ) We are in year... (I think 3? 2 1/2?) well, we won't be able to harvest apples for awhile, but love seeing them slowly turn into trees. They're like a promise, a chasing dream: "If we take care of *you,* little seedling..."

It also makes me think of a story embedded in our nation's folklore, Johnny Appleseed... and why he was compelled to do so.